Emma Dunn (26 February 1875 – 14 December 1966) was an English actress. After starting her acting career on stage in London, she became known for her works in numerous films and Broadway productions.

Career

Emma Dunn appeared onstage in her early teens, graduating to the London stage for several years and later became a noted Broadway actress. She appeared in the first American production of

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's ''Peer Gynt'' (1906) with

Richard Mansfield Richard Mansfield (24 May 1857 – 30 August 1907) was a German-born English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the play ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1887 play), Dr. Jekyll and Mr ...

as Peer. She played Peer's mother, Ase, even though she was, in real life, 20 years younger than Mansfield. She appeared in three productions for theatre impresario David Belasco: ''The Warrens of Virginia'' (1907), ''The Easiest Way'' (1909) and '' The Governor's Lady'' (1912). In ''The Easiest Way'', Dunn portrayed Annie, who was black, in blackface. In 1913 Dunn appeared in vaudeville. Dunn made her first film in 1914, a silent film of her 1910 stage success, ''

Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

'', directed by

Maurice Tourneur Maurice Félix Thomas (; 2 February 1876 – 4 August 1961), known as Maurice Tourneur (), was a French film director and screenwriter. Life Born Maurice Félix Thomas in the Épinettes district (17th arrondissement of Paris), his father was a w ...

. This was Tourneur's first American film. Dunn's second film was 1920's '' Old Lady 31'', reprising the role she played in the 1916 Broadway play of the same name. One more silent film followed in 1924, '' Pied Piper Malone'', and then she made her sound debut in ''

Side Street A side road is a minor highway typically leading off a main road.Main road — definition

'', co-starring the Moore brothers,

Matt Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

Owen Owen may refer to: People and fictional characters * Owen (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Places United States * Owen, Missouri, a ghost town * Owen, Wisconsin * Owen County, Indiana ...

and Tom as her sons. Dunn wrote two books on

elocution Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compel ...

and speech: ''Thought Quality in the Voice'' (1933) and ''You Can Do It'' (1947).

Personal life

Emma Dunn was born 26 February 1875, in

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, England, although she sometimes gave her year of birth as 1883. Dunn married Harry Beresford, an actor who was then known professionally as Harry J. Morgan, in Chicago on 4 October 1897. They divorced on 10 February 1909, in New York City. She was awarded sole custody of their young daughter, Dorothy. On 19 May 1909, Dunn married John W. Stokes"Emma Dunn Stokes", National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 2 January 1906 – 31 March 1925; Roll #: 2321; Volume #: Roll 2321 - Certificates: 317850-318349, 29 June 1923 – 30 June 1923. Ancestry.com. ''U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007; retrieved 16 April 2016. (John W. S. Sullivan), an actor, playwright"Emma D. Stokes". Ancestry.com. ''New York, State Census, 1915'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012; retrieved 16 April 2016. and theatrical manager. They subsequently adopted a second daughter, Helen. The couple divorced sometime between 1923 and Stokes' death in 1931. After suffering a heart attack some months before, Dunn died 14 December 1966 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, aged 91.

Theatre credits

Filmography

References

External links

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Emma Dunn
(Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Emma 1875 births 1966 deaths English film actresses English silent film actresses English stage actresses English non-fiction writers Actresses from Birkenhead 20th-century English actresses English expatriate actresses in the United States